


Coffee dates & mind debates

by Poncho_muskrat



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Depressed Keith (Voltron), Female Pronouns for Pidge | Katie Holt, Implied/Referenced Self-Harm, Implied/Referenced Suicide, Keith & Shiro (Voltron) are Adoptive Siblings, Keith (Voltron) Has Anxiety, Keith (Voltron) is Bad at Feelings, Keith likes to draw lance, M/M, Panic Attacks, Pidge needs to sleep, Suicidal Keith (Voltron), Suicidal Thoughts, angsty, keith is an artist, keith loves mothman, keiths parents are rich, lance and Shay speak Spanish
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-14
Updated: 2018-07-14
Packaged: 2019-06-10 08:24:03
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 13,199
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15287616
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Poncho_muskrat/pseuds/Poncho_muskrat
Summary: “You’re always sleeping and I haven’t seen you touch a pencil in weeks! Have you forgotten that you go to college?! When’s the last time you attended a class?!”Keith had forgot about college, he was too busy being sad all the time. And then it hit him, he was depressed again. Keith hid his face in his hands, partly to hide from pidges eyesight and because he hated that he was back in this state again. Shiro told him he would get better, and Here he is just two years after trying to kill himself, wanting too again.Keith let out a surprised whine, his thoughts scared him so badly.“When’s the last time you took a shower?! Ate a meal?! Taken care of yourself?!” Pidge’s voice was breaking by this point, and that made Keith feel worse. “What’s been going on with you lately?! You used to be happy!”~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Or—— Keith meets a cute boy at a local coffee shop and can’t control his feelings





	Coffee dates & mind debates

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first story so don’t go hard on me!

Keith walked down the cold streets down town, he always liked spring air, fresh and cool. He looked down to his phone on google maps, then back up at the large sign in front of him. 

~Altea Café~ 

Allura had finally convinced him to go there after weeks of begging, she always talked about how cozy and nice her little coffee shop is. 

Keith opened the door and the warmth and smell of coffee flooded over him. He left out a sigh of relief as he saw Allura wave at him from the back room. Keith gave a little smile and wave back as he walked up to the line. 

The place was cozy, it had dark wood floors and a dark paint color Keith couldn’t quite make out on the walls. Soft music played nicely from the speakers on the ceiling, and in the corner by the booths was a large bookcase filled with old looking books, for decoration maybe? Keith would have to ask Allura later.......

“Hi! Welcome to Altea Café! What can I get for you today?” Keith looked up at the man at the register, he didn’t even realize the line had moved so quickly. The boy had tan skin and light brown hair, along with piercing blue eyes. He looked about Keith’s age and he wondered if they went to the same community college just down the street. 

“Uh......can I get medium latte with almond milk?” Keith asked suddenly overcome with nervousness. This was one of the reasons Allura had to do so much convincing for Keith to get out of his apartment, he had really bad social anxiety. Back in his teen days he struggled to make friends and talk to people. 

Ordering food or drinks or even asking a stranger for directions was a big no-no to Keith, his face would always get so hot. Luckily Shiro had helped him quite a bit, teaching him breathing techniques and ways to cope. When Pidge, his roommate, found out the first week they met, all she did was turn on a Bob Marley playlist on pandora and they laid on the ground for an hour “chilling”. It didn’t necessarily work, but it still got them to know each other. 

“I’m sad to say we don’t have almond milk.....” the boy sighed. Keith bit his lip nervously, a bad habit he had had since forever. 

“What about lacto milk?” Keith asked quietly. The boy beamed again. 

“That I can do!” He smiled as he wrote on the medium cup in his hand. “And may I have the honor of knowing your name, pretty boy?” He purred. Keith seemed unfazed by his flirting. 

“Uh.....it’s Keith.....” He said, looking down and suddenly becoming very interested in the hem of his shirt. 

“Lovely! That will be 3.25!“ Lance stated brightly. Keith fumbled a bit with the money, yet managed to put it into his hand without any further problems. The boy smiled at him again. “It’ll Be right up!” 

Keith smiled awkwardly and went to the cozy looking corner booth. He pulled out his phone to keep him busy, looking on Pinterest for inspiration for the upcoming art show his class was having. 

Yea yea, as much shit Keith got about how he wasn’t taking his amazing mathematics skills to the fullest, and not becoming some cryptographer, hacking and solving codes or an amazing mathematician or whatever, keith didn’t listen to them. 

“I’m not forcing you to do something you don’t want to do, I just want you to think about your future. But if it makes you happy, then follow your dream and don’t listen to what people say.“ Shiro always told him that when Keith felt especially low. In high school Keith’s teachers always tried to push him into the direction of doing something great. 

Who knows, someday you might be working for NASA......

Fuck that, so Keith did his best in school and did a whole shit load of AP classes and became an honor student, always politely refused when his teachers suggested he did a speech at graduation, telling him the other students didn’t exactly see the greatness the rest of his teachers do......and then Keith followed his dream......

Going to college for an art major. 

Most people laughed when he told them what he wanted to do with his life. Why would you want to throw your life away like that? Except he wasn’t, if he actually worked hard on his work and committed to it, he could make good money. Maybe even become famous like Vincent Van Gogh or Picasso. Plus, he was really good at drawing, or at least that’s what other people said, he always thought there could be improvement. 

Growing up in foster homes his whole childhood, Keith spent most of his time in the quiet confines of his rooms. The families never really bonded with him, or maybe he never let him? Sometimes the kids would ask if he couldn’t talk, Keith would shrug his shoulders and doodle with his crayons one of the mothers had bought for him after seeing him coloring. 

And after meeting Shiro’s family for the first time he felt like he could really bloom into himself without being questioned, every Christmas and birthday Shiro would buy him some sort of art supplies and eventually years after they adopted him, his room was covered in different styles of art he had tried and liked. 

Keith was glad to have Shiro in his life, Shiro was the only one who really understood his anxiety and quietness. Sometimes Shiro would act like him too, Keith knew about how stressed he was all the time, especially after the bomb accident and losing his arm a couple years back while he was stationed in Afghanistan. 

Keith snapped out of his thoughts when he heard his name called. Keith got up and awkwardly waddled over to pick it up, trying to ignore the sweet warming smile the boy gave him. 

“I hope you enjoy!” He said. Keith nodded and walked back over to his confined booth area.  
Keith took a sip of the warm, foamy drink, not after acknowledging the cute leaf art in the top first of course, and his chest warmed in delight. It tasted amazing, better than his annoying keurig could do at home by far. 

He thanked the way the cup kept his hands nice and warm, especially since he forgot to bring gloves, like a fool would. 

And even though Keith just had just stepped into this place ten minutes ago, the sweet smell of coffee and soft music and glass mugs brought him one thought; home. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 

Keith ended up going back again and again every morning, usually right before his early classes started. And every morning he always asked if they had almond milk, which always got the same answer. Nope, not now, not ever. 

“Keith! Good to see you again! The usual?” The boy at the register asked. Keith wondered how he remembered his name so quickly, they must’ve gotten a hundred costumers a day this early, yet the cute boy at the register never failed to amaze him. 

“Uh, yes please......” Keith mumbled. The boy looked at him expectantly. “Yes?” Keith asked, noticing his stare. 

“Aren’t you supposed to ask me something?” He asked. 

“Uh........do you have any almond milk?” Keith rose his eyebrow in confusion. The boys smile brightened somehow, Keith wondered how he managed to do it. 

“I’m glad you asked! Because yes! I happened to get a couple cartons of it while shopping!” He beamed. Keith blinked at him for a couple of seconds. This guy who he barely even knew bought him almond milk because he knew he wanted it?

“You got it......for me?” Keith asked anxiously. The boy suddenly became just as nervous. 

“Well.....yea, I mean you always ask if we have it and I don’t like to disappoint my costumers and my boss said it was alright, if it was just for you though, she won’t allow me to spend that much money for everybody who asked for it, and I just want to be nice and-“

“Thank you.” Keith cut him off. The boy looked up in slight shock to see a cute smile and blush on the other boys cheeks. “It really means a lot to me.”

“Uh....iaahhh.....” The boy struggled with his own words from Keith’s expression, he was beautiful. “Uh 3.25!“ he laughed awkwardly. 

Not now gay thoughts!

Once Keith had left with his drink and went off to his regular table, shay, his coworker, whisper-yelled to him. 

“Keep it in your pants, lance!” Lance stuck out his tongue at her, making her do it back and revealing her tongue piercing. Despite all of piercings she had on her ears, and nose, and face, and even one on her belly button from what she had told him, she was actually the sweetest person he has ever meet, removing Hunk from the picture of course. But, then again, nobody could compete with an actual ray of sunshine. 

Lance rolled his eyes to himself as he restocked the cups. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

After a couple more weeks of showing up every morning to get his regular order from the friendly barista that tried to hard, keith was officially allowed to say he was a coffee addict. 

He didn’t know what it was, something about the caffeine that got his inspiration flowing. The art showing was still months away and Keith already had half of his display done. 

His topic this time was: the unappreciated. Yet, his drawings didn’t show things like useful inventions nobody uses or drawings of what parents do for a child, no, it was just a boy. 

Keith wanted to get more into the deeper meaning, not something physical, but something mental. So he decided to draw pictures of a boy and his reactions after being neglected, even though there is unseen greatness inside of him. 

Which is a problem in most families, functional or not. 

His first picture was of the boy laying in bed and looking up at the stars, a sad look in his eyes. The title; “it’d be better if you’d just stay out of this” 

Keith’s drawings didn’t have a time limit to them, the reactions could have happened a second after whatever the title was is said, or hours later (like in the first one, plotted staying up late at night thinking about the days events). 

The second one was of the same boy looking at the ground in shame and yet in numbness. His eyes looked dead and empty as he stares down at his feet, which were showed in his eye reflection. That one was named; “let the adults speak, they know what they’re talking about” 

The third one of the boy wiping away his tears with the palm of his hand, the tears dark and cloudy. Keith made it represent the stress being lifted from off of him, because every once in a while everybody needs to let out their tears. This drawing hurt Keith the most, it looked so realistic and hit him on a personal level he couldn’t explain. He titled it; “if you were important, someone would’ve mentioned it by now.” 

He still had three more to do, the one he was working on last night was of the boy holding a razor in his hand, except it didn’t look like a razor it was the word happiness in the shape of a razor. He had only gotten to the sketch outline, but then again he had only had about 10 minutes to think of it and visualize it. 

What worried Keith most was what other people would think of them, most of the people going to see the art show were his classmates, for one, some locals, and the rest art critiques. Keith had met most of them before, at his last art show just a couple months back, and they were nothing like how he had expected them to be, they would point out his best qualities as an artist and give him tips for improvement. They were definitely no Gordon Ramsey, Keith really appreciated them. 

Keith’s thoughts suddenly went to food the more he thought about Gordon Ramsey, and just to his luck, Pidge opened the door with a bag of Mexican food. 

“I’m back, bitches!” She called. 

“Who are you calling ‘bitches’ i’m the only one here.” Keith stated in a friendly matter. Keith swiveled around in his rolly chair, letting his mind relax and be away from his desk full of drawings. She put a plastic to-go box on the empty place on his desk, she knew from experience not to put it on one of his ‘precious babies’, as he once called them. 

“When I say ‘bitches’, i’m referring to you and the ghost who steals all the peanut butter late at night when i’m sleeping.” She said. Keith smirked as he took the box and opened it, letting the good smell of the soft burrito fill his nose and his satisfaction meter. 

“That is irrelevant, you don’t sleep.” Keith said. She rolled her eyes at him and paused for a moment before looking at his drawings. 

“Still working on those?” She asked. 

“Yea, I still got three more to go but I just started another one last nig- hey, put those down! You’ll smudge them!” Keith tried grabbing her little arms as she picked up two of his drawings but being the ninja she is, someone managed to dodge him. 

“I’m being careful you dingus- and why do these look like lance?” She asked him with a raised eyebrow. 

“Who?” Keith was caught off guard by the question, who the hell was lance?

“Lance McClain, we went to high school together, he was probably my first friend but we kind of went out separate ways after graduation. He goes to G.U. but I don’t have any classes with him. He works at that coffee shop you always go to.” She explained. Keith suddenly blushed as red as a tomato. She smirked at his flustered face, Keith hated that smug grin. “Know who i’m talking about?” 

“He always takes my order, he knows it by heart. He buys me almond milk for my lattes with his own pocket money.” Keith mumbled. She brightened after hearing that. 

“Sounds like him! Lance was always such a flirt, he must really like you.” She put down the drawings and walked off with her own food. 

“F-Flirt?!” Keith asked, startled at her accusation. 

“You heard what I said, Chode. His bi ass won’t be able to hold off much longer.” Pidge called before disappearing into her room, not to come out until three days pass. Keith was left to suffer, sputtering on his words in embarrassment. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The next day went horrible for Keith, he was fidgety the whole line wait, like he was on his first day visiting, and he was sweating slightly. When he got to the front of the line he filled with dread for coming, Lances happy smile didn’t help his situation. 

“Lovely morning today, don’t you agree?” Lance asked. Keith bit his lip and looked out the windows at the slightly blowing trees before nodding. Luckily the cool weather was warming up, Keith’s favorite holiday was always spring (he tells himself that to every season that goes by, not just spring). “So.....the usual?” Lance asked, Keith could see the slight concern on his face, and boy was he in for it. 

“Y-yea.” Keith mumbled under his breath, but just to make sure in case lance didn’t hear him, he nodded his head in confirmation. 

“Hey, are you alright?” Lance asked, his voice soft and gentle. Keith looked up from the ground and somehow his face became even redder. It felt like Keith was seeing lance for the first time, because all of a sudden Keith noticed all the freckles covering Lances cheeks and over his nose. They weren’t regular freckles, there were small dark ones that overlapped light, slightly larger ones. They looked like someone put sprinkles on his beautiful caramel skin. Keith realized he was staring after Lances concerned place turned into a soft smile. 

“Here you go!” Keith put the money into Lances hand and quickly fled the toxic zone before any more damage happened. As he was retreating he could hear Lances gentle laugh and the cash register opening. 

Keith was in for it all right. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Surprisingly, Pidge came out of her room the next morning out of boredom. She was gettin sick of rewatching shows over and over again, so she decided to sit on the couch maybe.......or stand in the kitchen.......maybe even look out the window. Yea, she was bored out of her mind. 

Instead, she went over to Keith drawings again. She wondered why Keith had chosen to draw lance, she had to admit that lance was attractive, even straight men thought so, but Keith had said he didn’t know who lance was. He only remembered lance from the back of his mind. 

She looked into more detail of the drawings, they all looked so sad. One of the titles was “if you were important, someone would’ve mentioned it by now” wait what? She hated to admit it but......lance fit perfectly for these drawings. She looked at his board which was on a stand in the corner of the room, it was blank with the overall topic above it. She new that when he finished all his drawings that he would put them on the board and take at least two hours repositioning them so they’d be perfect. 

She looked at the topic at the top of the board and she couldn’t help her eyes widening in shock “the unappreciated”. God she hated that lance was the perfect candidate for this topic. She knew that he had lived in a neglecting family all his life, they didn’t abuse him or anything, just expected a lot and either treated him like a child or an adult, no in between. 

She remembered lance would tell her stories about taking care of his younger siblings because his parents would be too busy helping his older siblings with college and jobs. He would have to cook them dinner and pay attention to them because they’re parents thought something else was more important. She knew he grew up with six other siblings, him being the middle child, and a large age gap in between the rest of them. 

She remembered hanging out at her house and celebrating his birthday because they always forgot at his home. He was like her second brother. Her family loved him too, he and Matt had been pretty close, and her parents treated him like one of their own. 

She knew lance was sad, and her family tried their best to make him feel loved. She also knew Lances parents didn’t realize what they were doing, they were very busy people. His father was a construction worker and his mother worked at a diner. They didn’t have a lot of money at first, but ever since Lances older brother, Javi, started helping them out financially, they had been well off. Lance mentioned that he was rich, he created some successful computer company that Pidge hadn’t gotten around to learning about. Lance said that he was his hero and the reason he’s going to the garrison. 

Pidge sighed. She would have to get in contact with lance again and bring him home. Her family probably missed him. She walked away from the board plopped down on the couch to hibernate until Keith got home. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

When Keith got home and saw Pidge staring at him from the couch his blush came back to his face again. 

“How is Lance?” She asked with a knowing smirk. Keith frowned at her and went over to his desk to add on to his drawings. 

“Fuck off.” He growled. Pidge laughed and walked over to where he was, she noticed Keith adding in freckles to Lances pictures and she smiled. 

“He would love these, you know.” She said. “He always liked having a lot of attention on him.” Her smile turned into a frown when she remembered what she needed to ask Keith about. “Hey, did you know about lance being neglected?” 

Keith looked over to her with a raised eyebrow and that told her all she needed to know. She sighed and sat down on the stool Keith kept to rest his feet on when he needed a more comfortable position to draw after long hours. 

“Lance grew up in a big family, middle child, and he didn’t get a lot of attention from his parents. He would celebrate holidays at our house, some years even Christmas. He always had the most fake smile on his face whenever I went over to his house.” She paused, looking at the ground. “But he loves his family, he would do anything for them.” 

“I’m sorry to hear that.” Keith said quietly. 

“He still got lots of love, my family treated him like one of there own. He’s great, like another big brother.......I really miss him.” 

Keith’s frown deepened when he saw her sad expression. 

“Come with me to the shop tomorrow.” Keith said. She looked up at him in interest. “You guys can get in touch again, and maybe we could all hang out when he gets the chance.” Pidge smiled at him, and Keith was surprised when he felt her short arms wrap around his neck. 

“Thanks keef.” She said. Keith smiled and hugged her back. 

“No problem, pigeon.” 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The very next morning was filled with many groans coming from the Ebony’s mouth. 

“What if he isn’t as excited as I am?” Pidge asked anxiously as they ate breakfast. Keith took a bite of his Cheerios in boredom. 

“He will be.” 

“What if he doesn’t want to hang out?” Keith watched as Pidge fiddled with her spoon. 

“He will.” 

“What if he doesn’t remember me?!” Keith’s eyes widened when Pidge’s hands clamped onto the sides of his face and their noses were touching. 

“Pidge.” Keith narrowed his eyes at her. “He will. Just take a breather.” She took a breathe and let go of his face, she sat back down in her chair and closed her eyes. 

“Sometimes I don’t know how you deal with panicking.” She said. 

“I don’t either.” Keith finally caught the last cheerio on his spoon and ate it. 

And then just 10 minutes later Pidge was freaking out again. Keith had been lookin for clothes, he had decided on a black tee, a red flannel around the waist, black ripped skinny jeans, and a pair of old converse, and then he heard Pidge groaning in frustration in the room next to his own. 

Keith walked over to his room and knocked, not wanting to walk in on her changing. When she kept on groaning Keith opened the door and found her laying on the ground surrounded by clothes. 

“What is wrong with you?” Keith asked as he picked her up and laid her down on the bed. She rolled over and hid her face in the pillow, Keith flinched when she screamed into it. “Pidge, what’s wrong?” 

She turned over and looked to the ceiling, then looked at Keith dramatically. Keith crossed his arms and motioned her to explain. 

“What if he doesn’t recognize me?” She asked. Keith’s expression softened. “I don’t look like how I used too.”

“Pidge, just because your hair is short doesn’t mean you don’t look the same. He’ll recognize you.” Keith reassured. 

“What if he thinks i’m Matt?!” She asked. 

“Look, I know lance may be stupid but he’s not that stupid. Your actually the smallest 18 year old I know, he’ll put two and two together. You look nothing like Matt.” She stayed silent for a moment before speaking again. 

“I don’t know what to wear.” 

“Wear What makes you comfortable.” Keith said. He picked up a couple of clothing items from the ground and handed them to her. “This isn’t like your meeting the president or anything. Just relax.” She took the clothes and Keith ruffled her hair before leaving her to change. 

“Thanks.” He could hear right before he left. 

She came out of her room in baggy light jeans, a Metallica crop top, and a pair of black vans. 

“You look great, now let’s go.” Keith said. She made a face. “Pidge.......” he warned. “Don’t make me have to carry you there.” 

Keith narrowed his eyes when he saw her eyeing her room door. He ran after her when she dashed off. 

After a lot of screaming and kicking they were walking out the door, Keith having a trouble locking the front door with Pidge being carried under his arm. 

“Put me down!” She complained. 

“I just have to say, I don’t trust that you’ll walk with me.” Keith said. 

“I’ll bite you.” She warned. Keith looked her dead in the eye. 

“I dare you.” She frowned and averted her gaze. 

Since Pidge was so light, Keith had no trouble leaving the building. Plus, it was funny seeing how flustered Pidge was when the people in the elevator stared at them in confusion. 

When they stepped outside, Keith let Pidge down on the ground. He pointed a finger at her face. 

“I trust you won’t run off?” He asked. She rolled her eyes and nodded. Keith smiled and booped her nose. 

They walked down the street in silence. Keith could tell Pidge was nervous, she was clenching and unclenching her fists by her jean pockets and she was biting off the dry skin on her lips. He nudged her side. 

“Hey, try and loosen up a bit, he’ll be so excited to see you after all these years.” Keith said. She gave him a weary smile and nodded. 

When they reached the café door, Keith reached to open it but when he turned around to look at Pidge she looked as pale as she did during the summers when she stayed in her room all hours of the day binge watching tv shows until Keith would have to drag her out. 

Keith gave her a knowing look and waited until she calmed down to open the door. He stepped in first and smiled softly at lance when he saw him. Luckily, there wasn’t anybody in line so they didn’t have to wait. Pidge hid behind him as he stepped in and hid from lance in fear. 

“How is my favorite costumer doing today?” Lance asked. Keith blushed slightly and rubbed the back of his neck. 

“I’m doing good, and you?” Keith asked. Lance smiled brightly at him. 

“I’m doing great, today has been pretty calm so that’s good. It’s better now that you’re here.” Keith blushed all over again and giggled. That made Lance's own cheeks heat up. 

“That’s good, I actually came here to deliver a present.” Lance brightened at that in excitement. 

“Aw Keith, you’re so nice.” Lance gushed. Keith pried Pidge off of his back and held her by her shoulders in front of him. She was nervous still, Keith could feel her shaking. When he saw lances expression he almost laughed, the dark skinned boy looked so shocked. 

“P-Pidge?” He asked. She nodded, looking up at him with hopeful eyes. Lance smiled warmly at her, and Keith and Pidge watched as lance went around the counter to come up to her. She wasn’t expecting him to hug her so tightly, and she definitely wasn’t expecting to hear sobs. 

“L-Lance?!” She asked in concern. Lances coworker, shay, came out from the back when she heard the quiet cries. Lance swore she had the sixth sense. 

“¿Estás bien?” She asked. She went back into the back room when she saw him nod. 

“It’s really good to see you…” he said. “I missed having my little gremlin around.” They both chuckled at that. Keith had to look away at the sight, this was meant to be private for them. 

“It’s been quiet in the holt house hold without all your yelling.” Pidge mumbled just loud enough for him to hear. He somehow hugged her tighter and twirled her around, making some of the costumers look their way. 

“I would expected so, i’m a darling.” Lance kissed her forehead and ruffled up her hair, something she got used to people doing to her. 

“We were hoping maybe you could get a break from work and catch up?” Keith asked. Lance rubbed pidges shoulders and looked to the back room. 

“If i’m lucky, shay might be able to cover for me. It’s a pretty slow day so I don’t think she’ll mind, plus, i’m on her good side today.” Lance smiled proudly and left behind the counter. 

Keith led Pidge to his usual booth in the corner and she busied herself by looking at the bookshelf. 

“Yo, Keith, my bro, my best bud, they have a conspiracy theories series in here. They have a whole book on mothman, and i’m not talking about some 600 word paperback, i’m talking ‘bout that order of the Phoenix, hardcover, type shit.” She pulled out said book and Keith’s eyes sparkled at it. 

“Gimme.” Keith made a grabbing motion with his hands. Pidge shrugged and handed it to him. 

“Knock yourself out, scrub.” She said, continuing to look at the other books. Keith opened the dusty book and breathed deeply. He started reading the first page and immediately became hooked. 

He was too busy to notice lance walk over and sit down with Pidge in the booth seats across from him. 

“Shay said she got me covered, but it would be best if it was only an hour or Allura would get suspicious.” Lance explained. Keith didn’t listen to the both of them talk and catch up with each other. He always loved cryptids and all those fun theories. When he was little Shiro would read him books about the Loch Ness Monster and Bigfoot But Keith’s favorite was always moth-man. Shiro still made fun of him because he had said once, ONCE, that he wanted to marry moth-man when he got older. Shiro never let that go, Keith doesn’t regret saying that though. 

“-eith?” He snapped out of his thoughts when he heard someone say his name. 

“Did you know theories stated that the Mothman was really a barred owl or an albino owl?” Keith asked, looking up at the two. Lance looked confused and Pidge just looked concerned. 

“Uh.....What?” Lance asked. 

“Huh?” Keith asked, referring to Lances previous question. Lance shook his head in confusion and took a deep breath. 

“I asked how you and Pidge met.” He repeated. Keith blinked. 

“Uh......we’re roommates, so I guess we met because.......we’re roommates?” Keith said as if it was a question. Lance purses his lips and looked at Pidge for an explanation. 

“I guess.......he’s not wrong.......” she said. Lance groaned and banged his head on the table. 

“I honestly just can’t deal with you guys this early in the morning.” He grumbled. Pidge and Keith laughed. 

“There’s really not a detailed way to explain it.” Pidge laughed. “We met when Keith opened the door and saw me, his roommate.” 

“What did you do though?” He asked. “I want to now how my favorite little sister, and my favorite regular got to know each other. Details, people, details!” 

“Well, Uh, I was making top ramen and Keith opened the door and we kind of stared at each other for a minute before he asked if he could have some ramen, and I made him some ramen, and then we ate the ramen........and then later that day we introduced ourselves.” She said. 

“Hmm.......that’s completely the opposite of how me and my roommate, Hunk, met. When I first walked through the door he crushed me in the best hug I’ve ever had in my entire life and he told me how excited he was that I was here, and he’s an angel, really.” Lance said. 

“Keith is too angsty too hug, trust me, i’m out of luck.” Pidge rolled her eyes playfully. 

Keith wouldn’t even deny it because she’s not wrong. He didn’t do physical touch unless he really meant to. The only person he hugged were his parents and Shiro. Pidge had figured out at some point that Keith showed his affection with small touches, pats on the head or hand on a shoulder. It wasn’t much but Pidge knew it meant a lot, and she was grateful Keith was comfortable around her. 

“I would expect no less comming from him.” Lance smirked. Keith smacked his arm and lance chuckled. 

They talked for the rest of the hour lance had. Keith got to hear some stories about their childhood, some were funny, others concerned Keith. One of the ones that concerned Keith was about when they were at pidges aunts house in a city a couple hours away from here, Keith couldn’t recall the name, they were with their aunts neighbors kids, they were siblings the younger one was Stephanie and her older brother josh, and they were walking around the neighborhood at night. Pidge explained that they had gotten split up because someone stared chasing them. So she went with Stephanie and lance had gone with josh and they hid in peoples backyards. 

But the man found Pidge and Stephanie in the backyard and Keith laughed when she told him it was a man in a gorilla suit. He laughed so hard tears started rolling down his cheeks. 

Then lance explained when they had gotten back to their aunts house, she explained that he scared the neighbors at night sometimes and said not to worry about him. 

Keith was laying his head on the table by the end of the story, tears running down his red cheeks. Pidge said it wasn’t funny and pouted. 

“T-That’s the funniest s-story I’ve ever heard!” Keith laughed. 

“It was terrifying!” Pidge groaned. Lance just joined in on the laughter. 

Ten minutes later lance had to say his goodbyes and left the table. He put his apron back on and walked behind the counter where shay was standing there with her arms crossed. 

“no tenemos todo el día! ¡Más rápido!” She whipped him on the butt with a towel and he ran to the coffee machines. 

Pidge ended up going back home a couple minutes later and Keith stayed to finish his Moth Man book. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The next day Keith felt extra energized and happy. He grabbed his book bag and put his drawings in so he could work on them at the café. 

“Bye Pidge! Remember to eat! And open your blinds so the sunlight comes in!” He called to her behind her closed door. 

“Thanks mom.” She said sarcastically. Keith felt satisfied with that and left. 

He had a big smile on his face when he entered the café, but it quickly went away when he saw shay at the register instead of lance. He walked up to the counter and twirled his hands anxiously. 

“Hi, what can I get you today?” She asked. That caught Keith off guard, he was so used to lance knowing his order. 

“Uh........can I have a medium latte with almond milk?” Keith asked. 

“We don’t serve almond milk here.” She said. Keith’s face became flushed in embarrassment. “Wait, are you Keith?” She asked. He nodded. “Oh, yea sorry it’ll be right up.” 

Keith handed her the money and went to go sit down. He pulled out the drawing he had started and got to work. 

By the time his name was called he wasn’t even close to half way done, then again these things took time. Keith gathered up His belongings and got up with a sigh. 

“Medium latte with almond milk.” Shay repeated his order and handed him the drink. Keith took it and paused for a moment. He looked like he was going to say something but then shook his head and thanked her. 

She stared at him in confusion and slight concern as he left the café. She wondered what his and lances relationship was. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Lance wasn’t there the next day either, or the next, and after four days Keith was getting frustrated. He couldn’t focus on his drawings and the dateline was only getting closer. Even Pidge had asked what was wrong with him. 

“What’s gotten you so lazy lately?” She had asked. 

“Nothing.” Keith groaned from the couch. 

“I haven’t seen you work on your drawings at all since you added the freckles to them. Don’t make me get all sappy on this, Kogane. What’s wrong?” She looked genuinely concerned and that made Keith’s stomach churn uncomfortably. He didn’t like it when Pidge worried too much about him. She already had herself too take care of, she didn’t need to listen to Keith’s problems. 

“I’m sorry i’m acting like this, I don’t like making you worried. I’m just stressed and need some time off for now.” Keith said. She didn’t exactly frown just she had made a face of discomfort. 

“Alright.......if you need me I’ll be in my room.” She said. 

“Like always.” Keith had replied. 

That had been yesterday. Keith walked into the café trying to think of an excuse why, if lance wasn’t there anymore. Did he quit, get fired? Did he die?! No, Keith was over thinking this, it’s possible he could be on vacation or something. Yea, maybe he’ll ask shay, she might know. Knowing where he was would make Keith’s nerves calm, unless he was dead, because then it would be the opposite. 

It was someone new at the counter this time, he didn’t recognize her. To his right he could see that shay was working on the machines. He looked back at the girl at the register and she smiled at him. She had long blond hair that was clipped on the sides, pale skin, and she had purple eyes like Keith’s. Keith read her name tag which said Nyma, which was a strange, yet unique, name. 

“May I take your order?” She asked. She had a smooth voice that calmed him slightly. If Keith weren’t so gay he would say she’s pretty attractive. 

Keith ordered and once again they had a problem with the almond milk thing. Luckily shay cleared it up for her. Keith wondered if she was new, he noticed shay had to help her with some things on the register. Fortunately for him, the process was quick and he was out of line in no time. 

When shay called his drink he once again paused. She gave him a lot that said spill it before I make you and Keith gulped. 

“If you want to say something, then say it.” She urged him. Keith took a deep breath before speaking. 

“Where is Lance?” He asked finally. He could see Nyma brighten at the sound of his name out of the corner of his eye. He didn’t like that. 

“I was wondering when you would ask. He asked for some time off for personal reasons.” She explained. Keith’s eyes widened slightly. 

“Do you know why?” 

“I didn’t ask, he seemed upset though. Our boss said he could have as much time off as he needed.” Shay said. Keith glanced at the back room for a second and Shay caught his eye. “Don’t think the boss knows either, cause she doesn’t. I’m sure he’ll be back soon.” 

Keith made an unsure face and whine and her expression softened. 

“Hey, don’t worry about him. I’m sure what ever is going on he’ll be alright. He’ll be back in the next week or so, he wouldn’t want you to be so anxious.” She told him. Keith sighed once again, and nodded. Keith left and Shay shook her head. 

“Who is he?” Nyma asked her. Shay shrugged. 

“He and lance are close, I see them talking all the time. It’s pretty obvious they’re pining their asses off for each other but they won’t admit it.” Shay sighed dramatically. “The sexual tension is overwhelming.” 

Nyma seemed to blush at that, shay noticed and place a hand on her hip. 

“Why do you care, anyway?” Shay asked. 

“I don’t! I’m just curious, I love some good café gossip.” Nyma said. Shay rose her eyebrow before smirking. 

“Can’t deny that.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Keith went back to the café each day hoping lance would be back. Everyday he was disappointed. He would walk up to the register and order and for some reason that warm feeling of home was gone. This place just felt like a building now, like all the Love was taken away from it. 

Keith’s drinks didn’t taste as good anymore either, he didn’t know if it was because maybe they changed the recipe suddenly after lance left or because lance was the one who made it taste so good. 

The little art designs on the top of his drink didn’t make him smile anymore, he would stare blankly at them while sitting at his booth. Sometimes he would stay there sitting all day and one time shay had come over and told him they were closing up. 

Keith didn’t have a reason to go there anymore. That made him upset way more than it should have. 

He recognized the feeling he felt in his chest, he felt emotionally disturbed but didn’t know what he needed to do to make it stop. His chest felt tight and he wanted to cry. 

So nights when he knew Pidge was asleep, he did cry. He cried a lot. He was letting out the stress right? He tried to tell himself that this was healthy, and that it was good to be letting out his tears. But even after he was done letting it out, he still felt horrible. Sometimes he even felt worse than he did before. 

He felt so empty yet full of emotion at the same time. He hadn’t been like this in years, luckily it wasn’t as bad as it used to be. But Keith could feel his anxiety rising more and more every day and it was just a matter of time before he burst. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It had been two weeks since he last saw lance. Keith had stopped going to the café a couple of days before. 

He didn’t know if lance had miraculously come back in those couple of days but for some reason he just didn’t give a shit any longer. 

He was crying every night now. He hasn’t touched his drawings in weeks. He knows Pidge is even more worried now, and Keith hates himself because it’s his fault. 

He keeps trying to tell her that he’s okay but they both knows he’s not. Pidge had been mad and upset, like she was right now........yelling at him. 

“You’re always sleeping and I haven’t seen you touch a pencil in weeks! Have you forgotten that you go to college?! When’s the last time you attended a class?!” 

Keith had forgot about college, he was too busy being sad all the time. And then it hit him, he was depressed again. Keith hid his face in his hands, partly to hide from pidges eyesight and because he hated that he was back in this state again. Shiro told him he would get better, and Here he is just two years after trying to kill himself, wanting too again. 

Keith let out a surprised whine, his thoughts scared him so badly. 

“When’s the last time you took a shower?! Ate a meal?! Taken care of yourself?!” Pidge’s voice was breaking by this point, and that made Keith feel worse. “What’s been going on with you lately?! You used to be happy!” 

“I am happy!” Keith stood up and looked down at her with a glare so hard it made her eyes widen in fear. Keith was surprised when she glared back and pushed him back down onto the couch. 

“That’s bullshit, Kogane, and you know it! I don’t know what’s going on through your head right now but I know for a fucking fact that you’re not happy right now!” She yelled in anger. Keith ran his fingers through his hair in frustration. “What’s wrong?” She asked sternly. 

“Noth-“ he tried, but she was quick to interrupt him. 

“Keith. Tell me what’s wrong right now.” She growled. Keith gulped, he didn’t want her knowing. She was still young, she didn’t need to know about his problems. He didn’t want anybody dealing with him. Shiro had been enough, he didn’t want Pidge on this. 

“I’m just trying to keep you safe.” Keith said. 

“Keith!” She said in annoyance. “I’m not a little kid! I’m 18 fucking years old and I’ve been through shit too! It’s not like you’re the only one in the world who had problems! So tell me before I call Shiro on the fucking phone!” She threatened. Keith flinched at his name, he didn’t want Shiro to be here, see him like this. They hadn’t been on the best terms lately. 

Keith held back the tears pooling in his eyes, he wasn’t going to cry in front of her. 

“I don’t know why this is happening to me. I hate that it’s happening to me, and I hate that i’m letting it. I was supposed to get better! Shiro said I was supposed to get better! But he lied! I haven’t felt this horrible since that day!” 

Pidge winced at the mention, Keith had briefly told her about his past, and he was referring to the day he tried to off himself with a bottle of pills. 

“I just want to be normal! I don’t want to be the weird kid anymore! I don’t want my family to be disappointed in me! I don’t want to love lance so much!” By this time he was definitely crying, and Pidge was too but he didn’t realize it. “Stupid, right? I’m feeling this way all because lance took a vacation off work! I’m the most pathetic being on Earth.......” 

Pidge shook her head and hugged him tightly. Keith melted into the warmth it brought, they both knew he was touch starved. 

“You’re not pathetic, Keith. It’s obvious you and Lance have some sort of special connection, you can’t stand being away from him because you love him. And it’s normal to feel upset when you’re away from a loved one for a long time, you just need to find your way of coping with it. You’re not pathetic, Keith.” She reassured him. 

“I-I don’t even k-know if he l-likes me!” Keith gasped into the crook of her neck, which was wet with his tears. 

“Keith you are the most oblivious person I’ve ever met.” She sighed and shook her head. Keith continued crying even though Pidge’s fingers carding through his hair helped calm him down. “Since it’s almost time for bed, why don’t we cuddle up in blankets and watch supernatural?” She offered. Keith nodded and they went to do just that. 

20 minutes later they were laying on Keith’s bed, surrounded by blankets, and watching supernatural on Pidge’s laptop. 

“Thanks for doing this, Pidge. You know I hate it when I evolve you in all my problems.” Keith said. 

“I like helping you, Keith. It makes me feel better knowing you’re not as antisocial as I thought you were.” She snickered. Keith nudged her in the arm and she laughed. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The next morning Keith woke up with a groan. He could feel the pillow scars on his face and his whole body was coated in heat from the open blinds letting in all the sunlight. Keith realized they must’ve fallen asleep watching the show. He got up and closed the blinds to let the room cool down. He looked at the computer which had the “are you still watching ‘supernatural’?” Question on it, he turned on the computer on put it on the nightstand where Pidge could find it later. 

Keith almost let out a laugh when he went around the bed and saw Pidge, she was drooling all over her pillow and her glasses were handing off the side of her face. Keith took off the glasses and put them on top of the computer and pulled off half the blanket so she wouldn’t overheat. 

When he was satisfied he left the room and went to go work on his drawings. In the two weeks he lost, he had a lot of work to do. Keith planned on finishing the one he had started on and possibly starting a new one. 

Time flew fast for him, lucky for him, just as Pidge had woken up he was just finishing the title. 

Instead of changing it, like he had questioned himself just that morning on doing, he decided to keep the same design. The boys wrist was bloody and he was holding the “happiness” razor in the other hand. Keith had made the blood look like galaxies were flowing out of the wounds instead of actual dark red blood. He wanted it to symbolize what cutting actually did and why it was so addictive. 

He hated the way people made fun of cutting, he hated how they always asked why people did it and why they would want to hurt themselves like an emo. But people who didn’t cut themselves didn’t understand the feeling you get, the feeling of an adrenaline rush and excitement, yet sadness and a numb feeling all at the same time. 

Keith didn’t understand it either, he had made fun of it too back in his early teenage years, that was until he had started cutting when he was 13. Then he understood, he understood why it was so addictive and why people did it. 

He hated the way he liked how his blood looked leaving his arms, yet loved it at the same time. 

He wanted other people to understand it too, he wanted to show them the truths of cutting. But he also didn’t like the message it brought, cutting wasn’t beautiful like galaxies. Cutting was a horrible coping mechanism that could kill you if you’re not careful. 

So instead of leaving the drawing like that, he decided to make an outline of glasses too show that this way what the boy saw while he was doing this too himself. Keith felt satisfied with that. 

He titled it, “You never want to go swimming with us, why do you have to be such a buzzkill?” 

Keith can’t even remember how many times he had heard something around the lines of that. Back when he was still hiding what he had done too himself he would always make these stupid excuses not to shed any clothing items. 

Wearing long sleeves in the middle of summer was not a fun time for him. Eventually after the third summer when he got heat stroke, Shiro found out about his secret and did his best to help him. Keith had only been 16 at the time. 

Keith had tried getting better he really did, and he hated how tired Shiro was getting from trying to help. So Keith pretended that he was helping. 

Eventually Keith couldn’t take it any longer and when he was 18 he tried to swallow a bottle of sleeping pills at the garrison, fortunately, Shiro had found him in his dorm and brought him to the hospital just in time to save him. Keith was 20 now, and yet he still couldn’t thank Shiro enough for what he did. 

Keith thought about how far he had distanced himself from Shiro the last year, Keith’s anxiety had pushed away people he cared about. He couldn’t remember the last time he talked to his parents, or the last time Shiro had called to check up on him. But Keith was happy living in his apartment with Pidge and only going out for coffee and grocery’s. 

“I see the oxygen is finally flowing to your brain correctly.” Pidge yawned right after she said it, and Keith smiled at her. Her hair was sticking up in every direction and she looked half asleep even though Keith knew for a fact that it probably took her 30 minutes just to get out of bed. 

“The oxygen was held back for a while, there was a kink.” Keith said. 

“I’m glad you’re working on your drawings again.” She said. 

“Me too.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Things went around the same way for the next week. 

Keith would get up before Pidge and work on his drawings, and in a matter of fact, he ended up finishing them. 

It took him a while on deciding what to do for the fifth drawing but after rewatching the first and second season of supernatural with Pidge he finally figured out what he wanted to do. 

His main inspiration was Dean, who’s always following orders from his father and never really got a childhood of his own. He was always treated like a man, even when he was young and that’s what got Keith’s gears turning. 

The fifth drawing was of the boy curled in a ball on the ground, and he was surrounded by things he could kill himself with. Some of the items were pills, sharp objects like razors, scissors, and knifes, a rope. He even added things that wouldn’t necessarily be considered “killing yourself” in the way he meant, but he added them anyway, like cigarettes, alcohol bottles, and drugs. Keith named this one “stop being weak, you’re a man”. 

And finally the sixth drawing was one that hit him hard, the last drawings. Instead of the boy being in an obvious state of depression he had a fake facade on. He was in public, the people around him were blurry and dark. The boy was standing there with his eyes closed and a straining smile on his face, like he was in obvious pain but nobody realized it. This one was called, “What do you mean you need help? You’re the happiest person I know!” 

Keith wanted to cry writing the title, because so many people struggled with this, he struggled with this, back when he tried asking his parents for help a week before he tried to kill himself. He didn’t blame them though, they were always busy with work, being rich didn’t come easily. 

They were very supportive to him after they found out what he had tried to do. Keith hated thinking about the looks on their faces. 

He decided to start arranging his board early so he doesn’t do it at the last minute, like last time. 

Pidge had to stop him from trying to tear the thing in half in frustration an hour later. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It was a Saturday when Keith got a call on his phone. He had been reading a book with Pidge in the living room, Pidge was reading her own book and they just decided to have a relaxing day to themselves. 

Keith picked up his phone when he heard it vibrating and answered it. He didn’t recognize the number, but then again he didn’t keep many contacts. 

“Hello?” Keith asked. 

“It’s shay, lance is back.” Keith noticed she sounded distressed. 

“Is he alright? Are you alright?” Keith asked anxiously. 

“We’re fine-well maybe, I don’t know. Lance looks really tired, I would come by just to check up on him. I really think he needs someone like you right now.” She said. Keith bit his lip, and thought about it. Today was supposed to be about him and Pidge, he didn’t want to bail on her all for lance-

“Dude, Buddy, my fellow bromo, if you need to be somewhere I don’t mind.” Pidge interrupted his thought train. 

“I don’t want to leave you all alone.” Keith said. 

“Keith, I know how much you’ve missed Lance, I want you to go.” Pidge said. Keith’s eyebrows went up nervously. Pidge got up and pulled him off the couch. 

“Are you sure?” Keith asked. 

“I’m sure! Now go!” She pushed Keith out of the door and locked it behind him. Keith sighed and left the building filled with anxiety. He let his feet carry him to the coffee shop. 

He wondered why shay said that Lance was tired, what had happened? Maybe he was just upset he wasn’t on vacation anymore? Or maybe he got up too early? Keith didn’t know, before he knew it he was at the café. 

Keith opened the door and immediately saw how tired Lance looked. Even from far away he had obvious eye bags, and his hair looked like Pidge’s in the early mornings. He walked up and lance smiled tiredly at him. 

“Heeeey.......keithy boy.” Lance said. Keith frowned in concern, what the hell happened to him?

“Are you alright? You look tired.” Keith asked. 

“If I had a dime for every time someone asked me that, I’d have like........ten dimes. The usual?” 

“Where have you been? Why were you gone so long? Why do you look so tired?” Keith asked one after the other. 

“Dude, I’d love to answer your questions and everything but it’s rush hour and there’s a line behind you.” Lance said, feeling a little guilty. 

“Please, lance.” Keith begged, and he didn’t beg to just anybody. 

“Fine, I’ve just been really stressed out lately because my roommate is moving back to Japan, and he’s like my best friend and I know Shiro means well but-“

“What did you just say?” Keith asked with wide eyes. Lance gave him a confused look. “Did you say Shiro?” Lance nodded again and before he knew it Keith was walking behind the counter and to the back room. 

“What are you doing?!” Lance asked. Keith was sure the rest of the costumers were watching them now, but he didn’t care. Keith just wanted to know why the hell his brother was moving back to Japan without telling him. 

Keith pushed open the door to the back room and saw Allura sitting at her desk talking with Nyma. 

“Keith, please, what are you doing?” Lance asked, he really did not want to get fired for this. 

Allura and Nyma barely even got to spare Keith a look before he slammed his hands down on her desk and glared hard at her. 

“Do you want to tell me why the hell Shiro is leaving for Japan?!” Keith asked. Alluras eyes widened in shock, she cleared her throat before talking. 

“I don’t know what your tal-“

“Bullshit, Allura! I know for a fact Takashi tells you everything! How long have you known huh? A week? A month?” Keith asked furiously. Allura sighed. 

“He didn’t want you to know, he said you would convince him to stay.” Allura said. By now, Nyma and Lance were staring at the both of them in shock and confusion. 

“Look, I know I haven’t been on the best terms with him lately, because he’s a jackass and I hate him, but he deserved to tell me this. Were you just gonna let him go and not tell me anything?!” Keith asked. Allura took in a deep breath, and straightened herself up. 

“Keith, I really think you should talk to him about this.” Allura told him. Keith’s eyebrows furrowed before leaving the room. Lance followed after him. 

“Wait Keith.” Lance called. Keith kept walking, lance grabbed his arm. Keith turned around and glared, lance flinched, Keith’s expression softened. “How do you know Shiro?” 

Keith glared again, paying no mind to the costumers that we’re watching the two of them. 

“He’s my stupid fucking brother.” Keith growled, tearing his arm away from lance and leaving through the door. Lance watched in the spot where he was before for a bit, confusion and hurt clear on his face. 

Lance walked back to the counter to take the next persons order, throwing away the cup he wrote Keith’s name on. 

The next hour was tense for everybody. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Keith opened the front door to his apartment and slammed it shut behind him. He was so fucking angry, why the hell was Shiro leaving him behind for Japan?! What the hell was in Japan?! Keith hit the vase on the table next to the door and it shattered on the ground. He angrily shoved the mail off too and it scattered, that’s when Pidge came out of her room. 

“What’s with all the noise?” She asked, Keith could tell she had just woken up by the way her hair was, but he didn’t care. Keith punched the wall and that seemed to wake Pidge up. “Keith, what are you doing?!” She asked in panic. 

“Stupid stupid stupid! Why the fuck would he do this to me?!” Keith yelled. 

“Who? Keith what’s going on?” Pidge asked. Keith’s breathing quickened and his chest felt tight, he knew what was happening, he was going to panic. 

“S-Shiro! He’s l-leaving me!” Keith gasped, clutching at his chest as tears left his eyes. Pidge held onto his wrists and he sank to his knees, gasping for air he suddenly couldn’t find. 

“Keith, I need you to calm down.” Pidge tried, she had never needed to calm him down like this, she didn’t know what to do in this kind of situation. This was all instincts. 

“H-He’s leaving me beh-hind-!” Keith cried, more tears leaving his eyes. Pidge kneeled down with him, slowly wrapping her arms around him and letting his head rest on her chest. She stroked his hair soothingly, Keith seemed to appreciate that gesture, squishing closer to her for comfort. 

“Shhh, it’ll be okay, Keith, I promise.” Pidge whispered. Keith nodded into her shoulder. 

They laid like that for a bit on the ground, and eventually Keith fell asleep on her. Pidge didn’t want to wake him, but there was no way in hell she was sleeping on the ground with Keith clutching to her like a koala bear. 

“Keith.” She shook his shoulder gently and he stirred. 

“Wha?” He asked tiredly, eyes open slightly. 

“Let’s bring you to bed.” She said, helping him up from the ground and bringing him to his room. She tucked him under the covers and was about to leave when he tugged on her sleeve. 

“Stay.” He said, Pidge rolled her eyes and climbed in next to him, Keith immediately latched onto her and fell asleep again. Pidge sighed and tried to make herself comfy so she could fall asleep to. 

It only took a couple minutes. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The next day Keith felt lost. He didn’t understand how he was feeling, angry and sad, but also empty and numb. He still didn’t know why Shiro was leaving, he didn’t have the guts to ask him himself. 

Keith kicked a rock on the sidewalk and opened the café door a little more harshly than needed and stalked in the room. Some of the people that Keith vaguely remembered from the day before were whispering to their friends about what had happened yesterday, Keith glared at them as he walked up to the counter where lance was. 

“Can I have my usual?” Keith asked, he didn’t notice Lances concerned expression. 

“Keith, are you alright?” He asked softly. 

“I’m fine.” Keith snapped, lance frowned clearly hurt, but Keith didn’t notice. 

“3.25........” Lance mumbled, hand shaking slightly as Keith handed him the money. 

Keith went to his usual table, trying not to pay attention to the people around him. He took out his sketch pad from his book bag and started doodling with his colored pencils. 

Stupid Shiro, stupid Lance, stupid café, stupid everything. Keith, at the moment, hated everybody. He hated his stupid brother for leaving him behind and he hated this café for bringing him back every day and he hated himself for letting it all happen. 

Keith barely recognized what he was drawing, but he liked it, he liked the way it made him know what was going on, it was grounding him. 

He could see Allura walking over out of the corner of his eye. 

He didn’t even realize she was talking to him until he felt hands on his shoulders. 

“-eith?” He heard slightly. He felt like everything was fading away from him, his hearing, sight, smell, gone. Until it all came crashing back at once and bringing him back to reality. The tightness in his chest was back and once again he was having trouble breathing. 

“Lance, I need you to call Shiro for me.” Allura turned to him before looking back at Keith’s sketch book, angry red lines covering the page, lines that looks like cuts. “Keith, can you hear me?” She asked. 

Keith always hated the attention on him, he could tell everybody was once again staring at him, that seemed to be happening a lot recently. Keith clenched and unclenched his numb hands, and stared down at them in horror. He wanted to rip out his hair, so he tried. 

He could feel hands trying to get him to stop, but he didn’t let them, clenching harder. Then he heard Shiro’s voice enter the shop. 

“Keith, let go.” It felt so soothing and relieving, he had missed shiro so much, too made he pushed him out of his life because of his anxiety. 

Keith’s hands slowly let go and Shiro’s big hands held his. Keith shut his eyes tightly and leaned into his touch, wanting more warmth. He felt his sleeves being pulled up and checked for any new cuts, he hears Shiro let out a relieved sigh. Keith pulls them back down and leans closer to him. 

“Let’s go home, Keith.” Shiro said, Keith nodded and he felt himself being picked up. 

Shiro put Keith in the Ferrari, bless his rich parents, and buckled him in. Keith saw Allura bring out his book bag and coffee he forgot about. 

He spaced out until he heard Shiro her in the car. Keith looked out the window as he drove him home, but he could feel Shiro staring at him. 

“You should keep your eyes on the road.” Keith mumbled, taking a sip of the warm drink, letting it sit in his hands. He hears Shiro grip the wheel tighter. 

“How are you feeling?” He asked. Keith shifted in his seat, but didn’t say anything. “Did you cut anywhere?” Keith narrowed his eyes as the trees went by. Shiro had only seen his wrists and didn’t check anywhere else, but Keith hadn’t cut. “Keith, I’m worried about you. I can’t remember the last time you had a panic attack, it’s been a while and all of a sudden they’re coming back? What’s up, talk to me.” Keith scoffed at him. 

“What’s up? What’s up?! What do you mean all of a sudden?! I just figured out my brother was going to move back to Japan without telling me!” Keith yelled at him. 

“Keith, I know you’re mad, but you have to understand. Please just answer my questions.” Shiro begged, that made Keith feel guilty, he stayed quiet. “Have you thought about killing yourself again?” He asked, knowing Keith wasn’t going to give a straight answer. Keith stayed quiet for a minute, before changing the subject. 

“Why are you leaving?” He asked. Shiro sighed, he knew Keith would get mad, saying how stupid he was. 

“I found info on your birth mother.” He said. Keith’s eyes widened. “She’s living in an apartment-in Japan-and I needed to see her, I know how much you said you wanted to meet her and I wanted to give you the chance. She doesn’t know about me yet, but I was going to go see her and explain everything. I know you’re probably mad but I just want you too understand.” Shiro said. Keith blinked at him in shock and confusion. 

“Don’t you think I should’ve had a say in this? She’s my mother and I should decide if I want to see her or not. And you were going to leave without telling me? Sure, I wanted to meet her but not if it means you’re leaving, I know we haven’t been on the best terms for the past few months but that doesn’t mean you’re not my family. She chose to leave me, that’s her mistake. But your my brother, Shiro, i love you.” Keith said. Shiro pulled the car over, it took a couple second to realize they were at his apartment and that Shiro was crying. Keith became worried, putting a shaky hand on his shoulder. 

Shiro looked up and hugged Keith closely. Keith relaxed into his warm hold, missing how Shiro used to hold him when they were younger. 

“You’re right, I should’ve asked first, I should’ve told you what I was planning. I’m so sorry Keith!” Shiro cried onto his shirt and Keith patted his head as a comforting gesture. 

“I forgive you.” Keith said. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

They went inside to find Pidge laying on the kitchen table watering a plant. Keith had to explain to Shiro she’s just weird. 

“Pidge! We have a guest!” Keith yelled at her. She screamed at the sudden loudness and fell off the table, out of their sight. 

“A guest?! Who is it?!” Pidge asked, incapable of seeing them from the ground. Keith walked over and picked her up, laying her down on the couch and ruffling her hair. 

“I brought my brother, Shiro.” Keith said to her. Pidge looked at the tall man behind Keith and frowned. 

“The one moving to Japan?” She asked. 

“I decided maybe Japan just isn’t for me.” Shiro rubbed the back of his head and smiled. 

“Oh! Well, I’ll make tea for everyone!” Pidge beamed, jumping up from off the couch and going back into the kitchen. 

Keith wondered how it was that she acted so comfortable around people he was related too. If Pidge had to talk to a stranger they both didn’t know, she would implode in nervousness. But luckily, it seemed she liked Shiro. 

The two men sat on the couch and talked to Pidge as she made green tea in the kitchen. 

“So Keith, have you thought about being in a relationship yet? It’s been a while.” Shiro asked. Pidge came in the living room and handed them their tea, they thanked her. 

“Keith has a crush on Lance~!” She said in a sing-song voice. Shiro gave him a smug smirk, Keith turned bright red. 

“Is that so?” Shiro asked. 

“I do not!” Keith denied. 

“Don’t lie to me, Kogane! I know all your secrets!” Pidge warned. Keith sighed and laid his head on the back of the couch. 

“Whatever I don’t like him that much........” At this moment, Keith was a big fat liar. 

“You should ask him out.” Shiro suggested. 

“Yea, Keith, he buys you almond milk with his own money!” Pidge said. Keith regretted telling her that. 

“Wait, that’s you?” Shiro asked. “Oh my god, lance would not stop talking about the boy that comes in everyday. He said he bought almond milk for the cutest boy!” 

Shiro and Pidge burst into laughter and Keith huffed, crossing his arms. 

“He said that?” Keith asked. 

“Lance will not shut up about you.” Shiro said. “Sometimes it’s pretty annoying. Keith, since you are my favorite brother-“

“Your only brother.” Keith corrected. 

“I strongly encourage you to ask him out. Do you know how happy he would be?”

Keith thought about it, he didn’t really notice how lance treated him. Shiro was saying lance liked him, and he liked lance, so it couldn’t do any harm? That is, unless lance buys almond milk for another boy and doesn’t even know who he is. Keith has been called a potato by a boy before......

“Fine, but only because you’re my brother.” Keith agreed. Pidge and Shiro high-fived. Keith hoped this wasn’t the biggest mistake of his life. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Keith decided to do it the next day, so he wouldn’t have a lot of time to think about it and chicken out. He went at around three, right after his afternoon class he hasn’t been going to lately. 

Keith let the sweet smell of coffee fill his nose, and relaxed a bit. Luckily it wasn’t busy, lance gave him an uneasy smile when he walked up. 

“You okay?” Lance asked. “Yesterday was pretty intense.” Keith smiled softly at his concern. 

“Yeah, Lance, thank you for asking. Me and Shiro worked things out, i’m guessing he told you he’s not going to Japan anymore?” Keith asked, feeling a lot more calm than he should be. 

“Yea, he told me last night after he got home. Let’s just say I cried for weeks all for nothing.” Lance said jokingly. Keith smiled at him, staring a little too long at his ocean eyes. “So, your usual?” Keith didn’t even realize he was talking until his pale face stared getting pink and lance blushed.  
“Uh Keith?” Lance asked. 

“Do you want to go out?” Keith blurted out. Lances eyebrows shot up in shock, Keith suddenly became very self conscious. At Lances flustered expression, Keith panicked. “I mean-unless you don’t want to! This was a stupid idea, i’m just going to go!” Keith was about to walk away when lance gently held his wrist in place. 

“I-I would love too.” Lance blushed when he saw Keith’s love struck face. 

“O-Okay!” 

“I’ll ask shay if she can cover for me, it’s a slow day anyway. Mind going on a date here even though this place isn’t that interesting?” Lance asked. Keith nodded his head quickly, Lance smiled and showed his pearly white teeth. 

Keith handed him the money for his drink and lance shook his head. 

“In honor of our first date, i’m paying.” Lance said. Keith smiled. Lance realized he was still holding onto Keith’s wrist, he slid it down to his hand and placed a gentle kiss on it. “Your drink will be ready in a minute.” 

Keith blushed for the millionth time and waddled away. He went to his booth and to distract himself, started sketching small pictures of Lance. Hopefully he wouldn’t mind or think he was weird or something, Pidge said he liked the attention anyway. 

He was doodling on the freckles as lance sat down with their drinks, but Keith didn’t know that yet. Lance held some of the papers on the table and observed them, smiling so big he thought his face would be sore when he realized Keith was drawing him. 

“These are really good.” Lance commented. Keith squeaked, yes squeaked, in surprise. 

“I hope you don’t mind, but you’re kind of my whole display for my art show.” Keith said sheepishly. Lance’s eyes sparkled somehow, which made Keith smile. Lance handed him his drink and Keith thanked him. 

“I only have an hour, but knowing shay that’s way past as much time as she would usually give me, but I think it’s plenty of time to get to know each other. You said you had an art show?” Lance asked, resting his head on his hand. Keith twirled his fingers nervously under the table. 

“Yea, Coran, Allura’s Uncle and my art professor, holds one about every four months. It’s optional of course, but he tries to encourage all of us to join in to get out of our shells. I like them a lot, it helps with my anxiety.” Keith explained. Lance smiled empathetically. 

“What got you into art?” Lance asked. Keith shrugged. 

“I was a foster kid growing up, and I didn’t connect well with others. I felt like art was the only thing that made me truly express my feelings and emotions, when Shiro’s family adopted me they all encouraged me to try out new art techniques and all that fun stuff. I’ve liked it my whole life, I did get a lot of shit about it growing up though......” Keith trailed off, but Lance was having none of that. 

“How so?” Lance asked, trying to keep the conversation going. 

“Turns out i’m really good a math, and an honor student, and I always had adults tell me i’m throwing my life away with wanting to be an art major. I was told I could have anything I wanted in life, especially since ma and pa are rich, and people got angry at me sometimes. Shiro was the one who told me to take no shit from anyone, he’s a great guy.” Keith smiled gratefully for having Shiro in his life. 

“That sounds like Shiro.” Lance laughed. 

“Tell me a bit about you.” Keith said. 

“Well since you asked oh so kindly.......” lance flicked his imaginary long hair. 

They talked about what they liked doing, how Keith loved conspiracy’s and how lance loved playing fútbol back in Cuba. Turns out they both really liked space, lance talked a bit about his favorite constellations. Keith talked about how he and his dad used to look through his telescope. 

And it just so happen to turn out that they both had pretty bad lives growing up. Lance had mentioned being ignored my his family most of the time, something Keith had already known, courtesy of Pidge. 

But luckily Lance had his cat Blue to help with all the loneliness. Keith loved cats, like really really really loved cats, and started talking about his cat Red who had to live at his parents house because sadly his apartment didn’t allow animals. Lance made a joke about how they let Pidge live there, which made Keith laugh. 

Unfortunately for them, the hour ended too soon and they heard shay yelling at lance in Spanish about working the coffee machine. They both stood up from the booth, Keith gathered all his things in his book bag. 

“Uh, I had a good time. I would like it if we could do that again sometime?” Lance asked, nervously, like the gentlemen he was. 

“I had a good time too......” Keith fumbled through his book bag and when he found the pen he was looking for, he wrote his number on Lance’s palm in neat writing. “Call me?” Lance blushed and nodded, Keith smiled warmly at him and turned to leave. Lance was still staring at his palm when Keith turned back around. “Oh, and one more thing.” 

Lance was definitely shocked, to say the least, when Keith suddenly kissed him. He had soft lips, a little chap, but lance thought they suited him perfectly. Their lips fit perfectly together, like it was meant to be. Lance snapped back into reality when he realized the whole three costumers in the shop were watching them and awing. Keith pulled back first and smirked at Lances dumb struck expression. 

“I’ll see you around, Loverboy.” Keith waved as he left the shop, Lance barely having enough strength to lift his arm all the way to wave back. 

“You’re in looove~!” Shay exclaimed, lance blinked at her, then softened his gaze. Shay could basically see the hearts floating around his head. 

“Maybe I am.”

**Author's Note:**

> I might make a second story to this one but I haven’t given it much thought. Constructive criticism is appreciated!


End file.
